A Slow Night at Sully's
by DreamerRoad
Summary: A short story about the first time Eddie gets hit on at Sully's after he and Janet start dating.


It was a slow weeknight as Sully's. Not much going on in the sports world, there was no Patriots game, no Red Sox game and no - suddenly popular - Celtics game on television tonight. And, there was no spelling bee. There was no big-ticket event to bring in a large crowd on a Tuesday night.

Janet worked at the bar taking care of the few customers that had come in tonight, but her focus was on the round high top table about ten feet away from her. There sat Owen, Nick and Eddie, having a guy's night out, drinking beer, doing shots and laughing. A lot. It looked like they were having a great time and she was so glad they were having fun. She had to admit that it was a bit distracting. And to make things worse, it was a boring night to be a bartender.

Janet loved it when Eddie would come in on slow nights and sit at the bar while she worked. He made those slow nights go by so fast as they talked, flirted and, well, enjoyed each and every one of her breaks.

But, tonight was not quite the same. Eddie was here at Sully's with his friends and she was trying to give him space. As much space as you can give someone when they happen to be drinking at the bar where you work. She was really doing her best to be invisible to the boys tonight.

Focus. Back to work. Wipe down the bar – check. Check on disgustingly drunk old man at the end of the bar – check. Make sure he doesn't leave without calling a cab – check. Wait on Eddie, Nick and Owen. No way. She left that job to Karen. Can't be invisible when your taking their drink orders. It just worked better this way.

But, that didn't mean that she didn't glance over every few minutes at her boyfriend. It would have been impossible not to. And, she could see out of the corner of her eye that he was doing the same thing by glancing over at her – oh my, she thought, how a simple look from him could give her goose bumps. She knew one thing – she was leaving him alone right now, but she was going to invite herself over to Eddie's house later on tonight. She smiled at the very thought.

It was then that she realized she needed to check on the two girls at the other end of the bar. The girls had come in earlier for Pomegranate Martini's and appetizers. They'd been pretty simple customers thus far even if they were getting a little buzzed.

"Hey girls, can I get you anything else?" Janet inquired as she approached them.

The blond girl on the right, clearly feeling a little happy and with her mind on something other than drinks or appetizers said, "Yes, as a matter of fact you can. That guy over there, the adorable one with the dark hair – I would love his phone number".

Janet glanced over at the table where boyfriend and his friends sat and knew from where she was looking that the girl was talking about Nick. Whew! She smiled and genuinely replied, "Sorry, yep he's cute, but he's got a girlfriend."

That's when it got more interesting. Janet knew it was coming. The other girl, the brunette, began "that's okay, I would like to buy a beer for the cute guy with the flannel shirt, god he's hot. "

Janet couldn't help but glance over at Eddie, yes, in one of his signature flannel shirts. And, yes, he was incredibly hot. Damn it.

"Would you please bring him a beer and put in on my tab?" Whew, she knew this was coming, but it still made her stomach ache a bit.

"I'm Sorry, I have to tell you that he's got a girlfriend too. The big guy's kind of single though." Janet said the last part a bit hopefully, even though she knew they had no interest in Owen.

"Um, no, I'm all about the flannel shirt dude." the brunette continued, "What his girlfriend doesn't know won't hurt her and certainly won't hurt him." Both girls giggled and looked back over at Eddie's table.

With that Janet started to seethe just a little bit. "Seriously, he's taken. I wouldn't waste your time."

The brunette, clearly used to getting her way, continued with more than a little attitude towards Janet "Ok, let's just test this out a bit, okay? You give me a beer, put it on my tab, and I'll take my chances, okay?"

Janet thought about it for a moment, ran through 101 different replies and decided that the only way for her to remain professional would be to give up. She'd have to leave this up to Eddie to sort out. She filled a frosty beer glass with Eddie's favorite draft and dropped the beer on the counter in front the brunette. "Okay, here you go. Have fun." Janet said with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

After the brunette checked her makeup in her compact she began to make her way over to Eddie and the guys, beer glass in hand. She walked up to Eddie and lightly touched his arm. And, as Janet noticed, she left her hand on his arm. Janet, completely focused on the action going down, growled under her breath "she did not just do that…"

Eddie, a bit startled, said to her "Um, can I help you with something?"

The brunette put the beer down and flashed a flirtatious smile at Eddie as she replied "Oh, yes, I thought you looked a little thirsty – so I decided I just had to buy you a beer. Hi, I'm Danielle." She said as she lifted her hand from Eddie's arm and held it out to shake his hand. Owen and Nick both chuckled a bit and looked over at Janet.

Eddie glanced over at Janet as well and could tell from her expression that she was at once annoyed and intrigued by Eddie being hit on. Surprisingly he hadn't really been hit on that much since he and Janet had become a couple. If he was honest with himself, even though he didn't need to pick up any women, he did still have an ego and he hoped that the lack of attention was just him putting out an 'I'm taken' signal.

From her point of view, Janet had been the conduit for many a beer, accompanied by a pick up line, from girls interested in hooking up with Eddie in the past. She knew it was inevitable that he would be hit on again. But, as much as she prepared for it, her insecurities began bubbling to the surface just a bit.

Ignoring the hand stretched out towards him Eddie replied, "Really, that's very nice and all. But, no thank you. I have a girlfriend and she would be REALLY unhappy if I accepted your offer." He looked away from Danielle, whose smile had begun to fade, and again, he glanced over at Janet who was clearly hanging on every word. "But, let me ask you this, which bartender did you order this drink from?"

Danielle looked back at her should at Janet and said "That bartender over there. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Excuse me." Eddie immediately got up, took the beer and walked over to the bar to talk to Janet in a voice loud enough for Danielle to hear, "Hi Janet. What goes on?" Janet replied "Not much, Eddie. What goes on with you?"

"Well, funny thing, this girl just tried to buy me a beer. I'm just curious. Did you give her this beer to bring over to me?" Janet shook her head in the affirmative and Eddie continued. "Do you really think that was a wise move?" The flirtation in his eyes was unmistakable.

Janet came around from the back of the bar and walked up to Eddie and replied, as if he were a customer with a legitimate complaint, "Well, she didn't give me much of a choice, Mr. Latekka, I told her you had a girlfriend and, for some reason, she just didn't seem to care." Janet shrugged her shoulders and gave Eddie a slight grin.

"Really" Eddie continued to have fun with this. "Did you warn her that my girlfriend is the jealous type? That maybe she was asking for trouble?"

Janet smiled "I didn't get quite that far. But, Eddie, I don't think your girlfriend is the jealous type. I should tell you that your girlfriend actually bought you that beer and it wasn't ever going to be put on that girl's tab…"

Eddie cut in "Danielle's tab you mean?"

Janet gave him a scowl "Danielle? Yes, Danielle's tab. As I was saying, I was actually putting this very beer on your girlfriend's tab. See, between you and me, your girlfriend told me that she was actually hoping to get you a little drunk tonight." Janet continued in an almost whisper, "I think she was planning to take you home and take advantage of you."

"Really?" Eddie said with great interest. "I'll see what I can do to help her out." With that, Eddie's smile came out, he stopped the act and he kissed Janet. Janet reached up and put her arms around her boyfriend's neck and kissed him back passionately. She didn't want there to be any mistake in Danielle's mind about her status as Eddie's not so jealous girlfriend. Owen and Nick began to clap and Danielle, realizing she'd been had, walked back to her friend, still sitting at the bar, in a huff. "Come on, Nicole, let's pay our bill and get out of here/"

Janet pulled back from Eddie and gave him a loving smile. She couldn't help laughing as she spoke with feigned disappointment, "That's my cue. Somehow I don't think they'll be leaving a tip."

With that Eddie winked at her, kissed her one more time and left her to go back to Owen and Nick.

Janet went back to the bar, accepted a high five from Karen and got the bill ready for the girls.

And she collected the girls tab – and she was right – no tip. But it was worth it.

Then she called a cab for disgusting guy at the end of the bar.

And she waited, to take her adorable boyfriend home in a slightly drunk state and, yes, she had every intention of taking advantage of him.


End file.
